May 25, 2014

#1624 moving and moving on

the new borns and the newly weds have fled the fridge-front
the stove was pulled out and ancient dust bunnies removed
personal pictures are stacked temporary in boxes
as we pretend this wasn't our home for years
wait for strangers to walk in and feel this house could be there home
that they could hang their own pictures
arrange their own furniture
laugh at their own jokes

I hope it's a family
someone who will honour the walls and fill them with happy memories
if some suit comes and gets workboots to knock her down
in the name of progress and profit
then I should not like to drive by in the future
I would take the long way around

May 23, 2014

#1623 unhinged

I had problems with doors
the sound of the metal strike-plate
the sound of commitment
a commitment to the future
unable to look back
I had problems with doors
they slam
they squeak
they close off
they interrupt
I had problems with doors
with having to close and lock them each night
with forgetting keys
with cracking weatherstrips
then she came along
opening a door I didn't know I had

May 17, 2014

#1622 committee

they are experts in their field
leaders
their combined knowledge is overwhelming
their theory and experience un paralleled
and they still laugh when one farts

May 14, 2014

#1621 beat

solitary notes on a solitary piano massage my solitary cerebellum
is that a baby crying or a screen door opening
a voice soaking the air in truth
we need to breathe this air
to breathe in the truth
guns and kick-drums sound alike
but one ends life, and the other gives it

should you ever lose or find yourself underwater
kick
kick hard and fast
now is not the time to breathe

heavy distortion represents heavy distortion
in the music
in the musician
in the message
in the audience

once in a while
on your kick-drum
make the sound of an object falling down stairs
break the monotony of rhythm
then go back to it
anything that many centuries old
has wisdom

#1620 3:30pm

the backseat of the schoolbus
coveted vinyl for may
but not for me
I was not a goody-two-shoes
or a tattletale
which is what I would suppose those people to say
but I was a pleaser
I was at times a scaredy-cat
I did not like being around trouble
it made my body tighten
not the breaking of the rules
just the being around when the rules were broken
I understood the passengers' need to rebel
after sitting from 9 until 3
and I understood the driver's need to enforce the rules
I faulted neither
but the conflict stole years from the unseen end of my life
and so I learned to pretend not to care

May 13, 2014

#1619 yesterday today and tomorrow

we are our memories
the longer we live, the more true the words
childhood and adolescence and adulthood
squish together to form our selves
memory trumps truth
as our memories shape us and we shape our memories
what is the present but an end to the past
and a beginning to the future
but the past never leaves
she stays here now
she carries us into the future
as we carry her too

May 12, 2014

#1618 a calendar vandalized in ink

i cannot hold this pace
the adrenaline, once welcome
is reaching poison levels

we are all too busy, i get that
but I'm not good at busy
i am a natural uni-tasker

i build extra time into my day
to be open to life's treasures
and now i keep missing those treasures

today i met a good friend on the sidewalk
i was only 45% in the conversation
55% in my next meeting- a sin

forgive me while i practice
something i need to practice
to protect the important parts of me

no
no
no


May 11, 2014

#1617 monday morning

spring tire tracks scrawled on the high school soccer field
everyone's asking who
rumours about mud on the underbody of so-and-so's truck
and what's-his-name's car
but no one seems to know
a rarity in a town this size

the assumption is there
a young person, probably two or three of them
male
likely grade 11 or 12
perhaps a recent grad
or drop-out

the principal made an attempt at an authoritative announcement
desperation
the "good" kids are anxious and curious
the "bad" kids are amused and curious
the "adults" are pissed and curious
parents are curious... and nervous

not all questions get answered
not mysteries are solver
not all wrongs are righted
legends are borne
rumors jump generations
and we're left
     wondering

May 8, 2014

#1616 lesson not yet learned

we run and run
and run and run
and run and run
to keep up with those ahead of us
who are keeping up with those ahead of them
better-paying job
bigger house
newer car
and in the end
all that really matters
is time
and happiness

May 5, 2014

#1615 bread crusts

you do what you can
you wake
you sacrifice
you teach
you sleep (a bit)
then you do a lot of second guessing
but you do what you can
a day comes
when you need to set them free
you miss the control
the being the protector
but they walk out the door without your hand
and you trust
(or at least try to trust)
that all those mornings
all those bread crusts
all those lessons
gave them what they need
to be a good person who knows how and when
to stick up for themselves, those close to them, and what they believe in
still, as the door closes
tears try to chase them

May 4, 2014

#1614 things lost

like single socks and innocence
time and one's virginity
like minds and all sanity
our way and our temper
like the power and a track of time
spouses and people to cancer
we need an abstract lost&found bin for these items
so we can find them again

May 3, 2014

#1613 OFH

these walls are sterile and dated
the air is sick with age and boredom
wrinkles and pills and bland meals fill days with emptiness
is this how we treat yesterday
is this how we treat where we come from
dorm rooms feel homier
and dentist offices more welcoming
age deserves better than this

#1612 weather

the bright grey of the sky darkens my mood
rain falls with my optimism
with air as cold as my outlook
and grass as lifeless as my enthusiasm

May 1, 2014

#1611 my little runaway

and I wonder
about kids today
and how they make it through their day
and I wonder
about technology
how it's taking over all of me
and I wonder
about myself
how I became the me I am today
and I wonder
about wondering
and if it gets me anywhere